medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture

Dear colleagues,

Further to Anna Sanders's message, Rosemary Hayes-Milligan has shared this with me, and I think it should be shared with us all.

Best wishes, George

--
George Ferzoco
University of Leicester
University Road
LEICESTER LE1 7RH
UNITED KINGDOM
tel +44 (0)116 252 2654
fax +44 (0)116 252 3633
e-mail [log in to unmask]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Emilia Jamroziak" <Sent: Thursday, September 28, 2006 10:11 AM
Subject: FW: Disposal of Medieval Manuscripts: State Library of Baden in 
Karlsruhe


Dear All,

Please do sign the open letter if you can - all the details are below. 
Apologies for any cross-posting and the mass-mailing.

Emilia

-----Original Message-----


Apologies for cross-posting:

Included below are a translation of an article from NZZ-Online in Zürich, 
and an open letter that the German academics are sending to the government 
and news media on Friday.  The article includes information about which mss 
are to go on the block, and why.  The PM of Baden has excused this action 
today by claiming that the uproar has only been in the cultural pages of the 
media, but not in the financial sections (which apparently proves that it 
makes good financial sense).

All translations are mine: I accept responsibility for any discrepancies 
from the German that the English may convey.

sincerely,
Rebecca LR Garber, PhD
Freelance Translator


NZZ-Online (Neue Züricher Zeitung)

Dear Medievalists,

We have received the attached communication regarding disposal of medieval 
mauscripts from the State Library of Baden in Karlsruhe, if you wish to sign 
the Open Letter and return.

Alison M Martin
Secretary
Institute for Medieval Studies
Room 405 Parkinson Building
University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
Tel: +44 113 343 3620
www.leeds.ac.uk/ims

===================

Philistines in Baden
End-of-Season Manuscript Sale in Karlsruhe

Evil news is heard from Baden-Württemberg.  A bad case of governmental 
philistinism afflicts the state at present.  To the horror of librarians, 
historians, patriots and citizens, the MP and the hereditary arch duke of 
Baden have agreed to hock the unique collection of manuscripts held in the 
State Library of Baden in Karlsruhe.  To be disposed of are all works 
acquired prior to 1872.  At that time, the archducal library was placed 
under the control of the Baden Innenministerium (Department of State, 
internal affairs).  This protects volumes bought later from the princely 
claims of possession, but not, however, works of art such as the 
prachtmanuscripts: an illuminated book of hours of Archduke Christoph I of 
Baden (1490), the Gospel of St. Peter (ca. 1200) or the medieval 
lectionaries from the scriptorium of the monastery at Reichenau.  They are 
threatened with being scattered to all corners of the globe.

70 million euros, that is the requirement, has to be brought in by this 
sale.  A sum that can only be achieved by a rigorous plundering of the 3500 
volumes of the entire manuscript collection.  From the anticipated proceeds, 
the preservation of the castle Salem, the last castle remaining in the 
possession of the financially irresolute house of Baden, will be ensured. 
The archduke will receive approximately 30 million as compensation for the 
expenditures (on the castle) in previous years, the remainder is held in a 
trust to ensure
(maintenance) of the castle.  In return, the heirs of the last Archduke of 
Baden, who was forced to abdicate in 1918, will abjure "for all time" from 
demanding the return of former archducal collections from the state.  MP 
Öttinger justifies the agreement by reference to the legal battle, in which 
the state and the archducal family have been entangled for some time.

According to the representation of those responsible, this business deals 
with a responsible appreciation of the values of the goods: on the one hand, 
the old manuscripts, which, as has been sufficiently proven, are only 
accessible to a few experts; on the other hand, the castle Salem, a 
wonderful building complex with its own gothic Minster.
  Why do we call the whole thing Philistinism?  Because one simply does not 
sell manuscripts of this value and history.  It is also the construction of 
Philistines, to finance the maintenance of castle Salem solely from the 
interest from the trust.  The influx of capital required for that demands, 
above all else, the initially ruinous manuscript sale.  But the government 
in Baden-Württemberg is concealing this.

Joachim Günter




Open Letter

Honorable Ministerpräsident,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

with disbelief and horror we have learned, that the state government intends 
to completely divest itself of the medieval manuscripts held in the State 
Library of Baden in Karlsruhe.  In a barbarous act beyond compare, a central 
portion of the cultural inheritance of the state will be stolen.

The majority of manuscripts in question come from the libraries of 
monasteries in the Black Forest, the Upper-Rhine, and Lake Constance.
They document a unique path of spiritual life in this region, and how it 
developed.  With few exceptions, these manuscripts arrived in the care of 
the state 200 years ago during the secularization, which expropriated the 
monastic libraries.  Since that time, they have been conserved and made 
available to the public under considerable application of technology and 
public means.  This sale will scatter them to all ends of the globe.  The 
increasing connections made between items in the collection will be torn 
asunder and many of the manuscripts will be accessible only with great 
difficulty, or not at all.  This will be a second expropriation.

As scholars, who are engaged in researching and analyzing medieval 
manuscripts, we appeal to you as the responsible parties in government and 
parliament: Do not inflict upon the State, whose citizens selected you as 
their representatives, irrecoverable damages! Distance yourselves from these 
disastrous plans!

If you would like to sign the Open letter, send an email to 
[log in to unmask]
subject: Open Letter
please include your full name, title, institutional affiliation Email 
addresses will not be disclosed.  Dr. Klaus Klein will add all names to the 
open letter, to be sent to the governement and news media on Friday.

Rebecca LR Garber
Freelance Translator  [log in to unmask]

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